Chen Kai and Nameless were in shock seeing the amazing devastation, it was a complete nightmare scenario, Chen Kai knew from the valley but seeing it with his own eyes left him a deep impression then Shallot interrupted their thoughts as he said " Now let's go " he begins to walk at the other side of the mountain, there it was a path that went down the mountain... well, some sort of path carved at the side of the mountain
Chen Kai and Nameless frown with surprise and Chen Kai says " Wait! We are going to go there?! isn't that place very dangerous?! " Shallot stops and turns around to see them and says " Dont worry, nothing will happen if you do what I say " Both of them look at Shallot with doubt but they still follow him, Nameless is walking behind Shallot, he sees that wide gap between the ground and them and the very narrow path they were taking, so he couldn't help to ask " Hey I can't see the ground with that strange fog but isn't it better if you get us down by flying? "
Shallot responds to him without turning around as he keeps walking down the path " As you saw the place has a death aura and that death aura is caused by the evil spirits inside it, the quantity of evil spirits inside there is outstanding if I flew over the valley I will attract them, I can deal with them if I fight a little bit serious, but I can't say the same to you they will kill you if you are still in the high ground "
" Oh great, so now we are going to walk towards them and die anyway " Said Nameless with annoyance
Chen Kai shakes his head and says " I don't think so, most of the evil spirits engage those that behave like the ones who killed them, there are others that are different, but they are rare so that means that the ones that killed them in this valley were flying, am I wrong? besides, why don't you just destroy their corpses to clean them out? "
Nameless makes a thoughtful expression just like Chen Kai and waits for Shallot's answer just like him
Shallot shakes his head slightly and says " I can't just exterminate them, they are some kind of guardian dogs, that way cultivators won't come near the place and one last thing, you are wrong "
" What? In what? " Asked Chen Kai with an expression full of doubt
Shallot stops and turns to see them with a mocking smirk as both of them see him with surprise, then he says "Just one man caused all of those dead and destruction " Then Shallot starts to walk again
" What!? " Both of them screamed in surprise and when they noticed that Shallot was heading ahead they walked a little faster
" Focus on your steps most of these rocks are slippery and some must be loose " Said Shallot as he heard them behind him
Chen Kai turns to see at the valley with a serious expression thinking ' This place is burned to the ground if what Shallot said was true the one who caused it must be extremely powerful '
Chen Kai wanted to ask more about the true history behind the valley but the path was becoming narrowing making them put their backs to the mountain even Shallot had to do it making him make an annoyed expression while he sometimes whispers " Goddammit, why do I have to do this sh*t every time? " or " Stupid mountain " he just keeps cursing on the way then...
*CRACK* " Oh sh*t! " A rock falls suddenly under Nameless feet he almost falls from the mountain but he manages to grab the corner of the path with both of his hands, Shallot wents back and grabs Nameless's left wrist with just his left hand then he raises him and puts him in the path again " I told you to watch your steps you fool "
Nameless makes an annoyed expression as he says " I know, goddammit, It was that stupid rock " Shallot ignores his protests and begins to move again just like Nameless and Chen Kai
They were going down from the mountain for at least 10 minutes more until they finally arrived at the ground Shallot turned to see them and with a very serious expression, he said " Now from this point, you better stick close to me, the death aura in the ground can make you lose your senses or worse, so no matter what you see or hear inside there, ignore it, that way you won't be so affected by it just stay close to me, another thing if by accident we cross an evil spirit let me deal with it, don't you dare walk towards it or they will kill you, did you understand? "
Chen Kai and Nameless frowned and they said with serious expressions " Yes "
" Good, let's go " Shallot turns around and walks with Nameless and Chen Kai walking a couple of steps behind him
They walked through the dead forest following a straight line, the trees were burned almost completely black, and even the ground beneath their feet had some burn marks or was covered with ashes, every step they made left a track, Chen Kai and Nameless couldn't help to scan the place with wonder as both thought the same ' What kind of power can cause this kind destruction? '
So the next thing that Chen Kai did was speak " Hey, you said that all this was caused by a single man, who was it? "
" I want to know that too " Said Nameless with a serious expression
Shallot keeps walking and without turning around he says " It was made by the Sect Master when he was very young maybe younger than you two, I don't know the full story, to be honest, I never asked, but what I know is that he was ambushed by hundreds of cultivators in this place, all with the sole purpose of taking his life but they were the ones who died by his hands, besides it seems that for some reason you didn't know any of this, despite it should be something that generations shouldn't have forgotten "
Chen Kai makes a serious face as he says " The story I know is different, something about a war between the strongest sects and empires for an artifact that could be made by gods, many of those sects and empires vanished for it but in the end, the artifact disappeared and no one managed to claim it, but it seems that all of that it's just a lie "
Shallot grins as he turns to see behind him " I find it hard that you believe what I say so easily "
Chen Kai grins and says " Why not? That island, the way you fly despite being young and that strange power you have, you know those energy spheres that can cause great destruction "
" Hmph " Shallot snorts with a grin and turns to see in front of him again
As they walked straight they noticed that somehow the air was getting heavier like something was bad really bad, at that moment Shallot spoke again " This is the worst part of the way, the death aura here is denser, it's so dense that will mess with you in worst ways so don't you dare to separate from me "
Both of them nod but after a few minutes Nameless and Chen Kai see something at their left that makes them freeze in horror, the good thing for them was that Shallot noticed that so he stopped, to watch in the direction they were seeing while he keeps a calm face
Chen Kai and Nameless saw a wide crater that had fallen burned trees around it, in the very center of the crater was something standing, it looked like a shadow but it wasn't a shadow it had a human form, to be exact it was a woman a very beautiful woman with a long black hair, her face was white as a paper, just like her uncovered arms something that a living human shouldn't have as well her scleras was black but her irises were neon blue a shiny neon blue, the rest of her body was black like she was wearing black smoke as a dress, the woman seems to be crying while she observes the ground in front of her, her tears shine in a neon blue light just like her irises
Chen Kai and Nameless were in shock seeing the woman and when they saw what she was seeing they gulped some saliva. The woman saw a skeleton, the skeleton wore golden armor and still had some clothes on it, clothes red like blood burned and covered with dirt, and not far from it was a golden spear, so fancy that still shone despite its half-buried in the ground
Then Shallot speaks again " She was once one of the strongest existences in the world and the one she is seeing must have been her loved one, the reason why she must have turned into an evil spirit "
' How did he...? ' Thought Nameless seeing Shallot
' Then she must be a centered evil spirit, those only will attack the one they resent ' thought Chen Kai seeing the evil spirit, but before they could say anything Shallot said " Let's go, we are almost there " so they walked again
Chen Kai turned to see the evil spirit in the crater one last time ' Her resentment is centered completely on the one who killed her and her loved one, now she is trapped in that form mourning her loss until she gets her revenge or someone destroys her corpse, she could be trapped for the eternity ' Chen Kai bows his head making a slightly sad face
Then Shallot speaks again " You don't need to feel sorry for any of them, all of the evil spirits that still wander in this place can blame themselves for their tragic end even if they once were sons or daughters, fathers and mothers or husbands, and wives, no one forced them to come here, they came here by their own will and in the end, they reaped what they sowed " Chen Kai makes a thoughtful expression then his face turned calm again but somehow Nameless face was calm after seeing the woman, not even a slight bit of pity passed through his face, he just keeps walking behind Shallot
The three of them walked through the forest for a few minutes until " Kai... "
" Hmm? " Chen Kai stopped when he heard a whisper coming from his right the whisper was so soft and quick that anyone could have imagined it but Chen Kai could swear that he heard someone say his name even so in the end Chen Kai decided to ignore it and keep walking after Nameless and Shallot but " Kai... "
This time the whisper was louder and clearer even the voice sounded very familiar, it was a girl's voice, one he recognized and had yearned to hear again so he stopped and turned to see his right to say softly " Yue? "
The place where Chen Kai saw was dark and full of dead trees but he knew that the whisper was coming from there so he began to inspect the place searching for Ying Yue until " I have missed you... " he heard the whisper again
" Where are you? " Said Chen Kai seeing the dead forest with desperation trying to find her, but it was in vain he couldn't see anything so he clenched his fist strongly and shook his head then turned around to walk again but " Kai... don't leave me... please... " this time he could see a girl's silhouette behind a tree so he turned to see it with shock and says " Yue... " Then he started to walk towards the silhouette with a worried expression and suddenly *SLAP* " Agh " someone slapped his nape making him close his eyes in pain and when he opened them again he saw the one who hit him
It was Shallot who was seeing him with an angered expression then he said " What did I tell you, you Idiot? "
" Agh... What happened? " Chen Kai caresses his nape and sees Shallot with confusion
Shallot frowns deeply and says " You let the death aura mess with your mind, you idiot, just like the other brat " Chen Kai noticed that Nameless had a face full of confusion just like him, and just like him, he didn't remember what happened
Shallot shakes his head with annoyance and says " Let's go, you idiots, we still have a long way to go and this time don't let the aura mess with your heads again "
" Aren't you affected by it? " Asked Nameless with a dizzy expression
Shallot turns to see him and shakes his head slightly " No, I'm immune to it, and soon you will be as well, now move " Then he begins to walk Chen Kai and Nameless are surprised by that, and both nod and follow Shallot once again